Picture the most epic game of Jenga you can imagine playing. The tower of blocks is stacked higher than you’ve ever seen in a game like this. It’s been a completely flawless game with no sign of the tower tumbling. It’s your turn and right as you are pulling the block out of its stable spot, the entire tower collapses. Even though you’d played a perfect game up to that point, with that one move, the game was lost and the tower came crashing down. This is not unlike our sin. No matter how “good” we are on our own, we are stained by sin. It causes us to lose the game, so to speak. No matter how you look at it, purity – being clean and free from the power of sin – is not something we can accomplish on our own.
PURITY: Being clean and free from the power of sin
MEMORY VERSE: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10 (NIV)
This Week’s Finish Line: We are not pure because sin stains us
When God created Adam and Eve, they were pure and free, and part of being free means they could make choices. Sadly, they chose to not believe God’s way was best and went their own way. When they did, they were no longer pure because sin stained them. Now there was pain, hurt feelings, loneliness…death. God wanted Adam and Eve to choose to obey Him because they loved Him. Instead, they doubted Him. But that didn’t make God stop loving them. He came to find them, and even made clothes for them. They had to leave the garden as a consequence for sin, but do you know what is so amazing about God? Before He even created the world, He had a perfect rescue plan and a perfect Rescuer in mind. He already knew how He would make a way for Adam and Eve’s now broken relationship with Him…our broken relationship with Him…to be made whole and put back together again. He already knew that we would not be pure because sin stained us, and He knew how to get the stain out!
Family Questions:
Read Genesis 3:1-9
- What lies did the serpent try to make Eve believe? (He wanted Eve to think that God didn’t love her and was not giving her what was best. He tried to get her to think God isn’t good.) What would you have told Eve if you had been standing there with her?
- Why do you think Adam and Eve chose to do what God told them not to do? What did they forget was true about God? (They saw that it looked good and wanted to be wise like God. They doubted God was good and loved them and had told them not to eat because He was protecting them from pain and death.) What happened to Adam and Eve’s purity? (They were no longer pure because they chose to sin. There’s nothing they could do to clean themselves from the stain of sin.)
- Look at verse 8. How did their relationship with God change? (Before they sinned they got to walk and talk with God without fear or shame. Afterwards, they knew they had done something wrong and tried to hide from Him. Their relationship with God was broken.)
- Reread verse 9. Do you think God really didn’t know where Adam and Eve were? Why do you think that? (He knew exactly where they were and what they’d done. He wanted them to come to Him. Even though God knows our sin, He doesn’t want us to hide from Him. He calls out to us and He wants us to come to Him.)
Bring it Home Conversations & Activities:
* Check out our vision for parents and how to use these activities each week.
Teacher: Meal Time
Summarize Genesis 3 (or have one of your kids do it. Ask them if they think God still loved Adam and Eve, even though they were no longer pure? Does God still love us??? (Absolutely! He always loves us, no matter what. There are consequences for our sin but He still loves us.)
Remind your kids that the rest of the Bible tells the amazing story of God’s plan to heal the broken relationships caused by sin. All thru the Old Testament, He gives us hints about what He is going to do. Read Isaiah 53:4-6 together and then ask the following questions.
- What did this person do to deserve punishment? (Nothing. He was without the stain of sin.) What amazing things did this person do for us? (He carried our weakness, was pierced and crushed for our sins, beaten, and He died in our place.) What can we have because of Him? (We can be healed because He took our punishment.) Who do you think the prophecy is talking about? (Jesus!)
Friend: Drive Time
Practice this month’s memory verse (Psalm 51:10 NIV) stop-and-go style! When you are about 100 feet from a stoplight or stop sign, start saying the verse as fast as you can. The goal is to get through the entire verse before you stop at the light or the sign. If you don’t make it in time, pause when you reach the light/sign and then pick it back up when you start driving again.
Counselor: Bedtime
Pray and thank God for never leaving you and for always having a plan to heal our broken relationship with Him and make us pure again. Thank Him for sending His Son, Jesus, who made a way for our relationship with God to be made whole.
Coach: Anytime
It’s not too late to start an Advent guide with your family this year! Visit www.watermark.org/blog/advent-2017 to check out our Watermark Family Advent Guide. There is a scripture reading and short devo every day you can read together. Also, at the end of the pdf, you’ll find pages of ornaments which you can decorate daily and hang on your tree or around your house to remind you of God’s great story of Christmas!
Prayer
Thank God for never leaving you and for always having a plan to heal our broken relationship with Him and make us pure again. Thank Him for sending His Son, Jesus, who made a way for our relationship with God to be made whole!
Looking Ahead
Next week, we will continue looking at December's character trait, PURITY. We will learn about how we can be made pure because of Jesus!
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Image via Desiring God